Explosive volcanic eruptions can severely affect the safety and survival of human populations. For this reason, studying the factors that play a role in modulating the explosivity of volcanic eruptions, though difficult, is of utmost importance. These parameters interplay with each other and may include magmatic factors like magma composition and mixing, pre-eruptive volatile content (CO2 and H2O), volatile solubility and exsolution, viscosity and temperature or external factors such as crustal properties, tectonic regime and stress fields, conduit, and vent geometry, as well as decompression rates. Magma recharge and mixing can be a trigger for explosive eruptions due to stark contrasts in density, viscosity, composition, and temperature and which can result in sudden exsolution of dissolved volatiles. Meanwhile, volatile species such as CO2 and H2O play particularly important roles in driving the ascent of magmas towards the surface, controlling the explosivity of volcanic eruptions and ensuring the viability of life on Earth. Volatiles can be challenging to study as magmas degas upon ascent and the record of pre-eruptive volatiles can often be lost. However, crystals growing from magmas can trap fluid and melt inclusions (MI), which preserve a record of pre and syn-eruptive volatile evolution from ascent to eruption. Though their value has long been proven, there remains a multiplicity of challenges associated with MI studies, which when left unaddressed, can yield analyses with uncertainties significant enough to question their validity. Here, I approach three central issues to MI studies, propose new methods to address them and apply these methods to the study of mafic explosive intraplate eruptions at Fogo volcano in Cabo Verde. Additionally, I investigate the role of magma mixing in triggering of explosive eruptions at Turrialba volcano, Costa Rica. In Chapter 1, our chemical analyses of fresh glasses and minerals from the explosive eruptions of 2016-2017 at Turrialba volcano, in Costa Rica, indicated evidence for pervasive two-stage chaotic mixing of mafic to rhyolitic magmas, likely linked to the increased explosivity of these events. In Chapter 2, we present a novel high-precision and high-accuracy fluid density calibration apparatus for Raman Spectroscopy permitting high-quality measurements of CO2 in fluid and MI vapor bubbles, including those with bulk densities in the miscibility gap at room temperature. \In Chapter 3, we present an in-depth analysis of the effects of laser heating on measurements of MI vapor bubbles containing CO2 as liquid and vapor hosted in olivine and the pitfalls of failing to identify the presence of multi-phase CO2 in them. Finally, in Chapter 4, we apply our new Raman methods to the study of three mafic explosive intraplate eruptions from Pico do Fogo volcano in Cabo Verde and explore the role of CO2 in driving the ascent of mafic intraplate magmas from the mantle. We also use X-Ray Computed Tomography on MIs to address the third critical aspect of MI studies that is often the largest source of error: MI volumes.